The data you'll need
You’ll find the bulk of what you need to complete your carbon measurement should be available in your accounts, supplier invoices and utility bills. You might also need to carry out employee and visitor travel surveys.
It’s important to gather data spanning a full year, as this accounts for seasonal fluctuations in energy use.
You’ll need data on:
Scope 1: Direct emissions
- The amount of natural gas consumed over the year in kWh (kilowatt hours).
- Fuel or mileage information for vehicles you own
- Any other fuels used by stationary engines such as generators.
- Any air conditioning and refrigeration gases
Scope 2: Indirect emissions
- Electricity consumption in kWh
- Amount of energy used for steam/hot water supplied for heating
Scope 3: Supply chain emissions
Supply chains vary widely between businesses. This sections covers a variety of areas that won’t all be relevant to every business.
- Business travel expenses claimed – distance travelled, mode of transport, overnight stays
- Staff commuting patterns – miles travelled and mode of transport
- Water consumption in cubic metres or million cubic metres
- Purchases – especially capital goods and materials for product manufacture and any packaging
- Waste disposals – broken down as much as possible by the type of waste and type of disposal
- If you’re a manufacturer, details of any emissions associated with the production, use and subsequent disposal of your products
- If you operate within specific high energy and carbon-intensive sectors, then estimates of any additional emissions not recorded elsewhere
- If you’re a venue, hotel, restaurant, or shopping destination the distances travelled, and modes of transport used by visitors/customers or users of your car park
- Details of any subsidiaries, franchises and investments and their emissions
- Tonnes and miles or kilometres travelled associated with freighting and delivery of goods and components
- Any other expenditures, broken down by type of product or service, not covered elsewhere.
Move on to the next page to start your data entry.